Optimal planning of running time improvements for mixed-use freight and passenger railway lines

In recent years, the United States has seen a renewed focus on developing improved intercity passenger railway lines and services. With the political sensitivity of public investment in rail infrastructure and accompanying shortage of state and federal funds, it is important that the most cost effective investments are selected. Many of these endeavors, including high-speed-rail projects with new, dedicated segments, involve infrastructure investments targeted at improving the speed, capacity, and reliability of existing railway lines. In most cases, these existing lines support the operation of commingled passenger and freight traffic on the same trackage. These shared trackage arrangements introduce numerous engineering and operating challenges to successfully planning and executing improvement projects. Freight, commuter, and intercity rail traffic types have inherently different performance and service characteristics that further complicate the planning of infrastructure improvements. This thesis is focused on enhancing the planning methodology of intercity passenger rail service in the United States